1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and method for managing application and, a storing medium and a program, and mote particularly, it relates to apparatus and method for managing application and, a storing medium and a program, which are suitable for executing an application program on an incorporated equipment such as a copying machine, a printer, a multi function printer (MFP) having copier, printer and facsimile functions and a digital camera.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, processors, memories and display devices mounted to incorporated equipments have been designed to have a high function and a large capacity. Further, in the incorporated equipment (for example, even in a copying machine), a multi function printer which is used not only merely as a copier but also as a printer or a facsimile has mainly been utilized.
The incorporated equipment as mentioned above includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display having a certain degree of resolving power so that an application program which is used by the operator to carry out various functions can be executed. However, since such an application program is fixedly written in a ROM, the operator cannot easily exchange or alter the application program.
For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-250758 (corresponding to U.S. Application No. 259616 filed on Mar. 1, 1999), application manager “Java” (trade mark) for an incorporated equipment has been proposed by Hylet Packard Inc. In a technique described in this Application, a class loader for developing and managing class of the “Java” program to be operated (one unit of the program in “Java”) on a memory is not prepared for each of the Java programs, if there is different class having the same name in the Java program formed by the user or a third party, a Java virtual machine cannot judge which class should be executed, so that a plurality of Java programs cannot be executed.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, there arise the following problems. That is to say, as mentioned above, since the application program for the incorporated equipment is fixedly written in the ROM, it is impossible to easily exchange or alter the application by the operator, and, if any trouble occurs, the application program can be corrected only by a method in which the ROM is exchanged by an expert.
Further, when a plurality of incorporated equipments are used by the operator, the application program cannot be executed until the operator reaches and utilizes an incorporated equipment capable of installing a given operator's application program, so that the management is difficult and troublesome.
Further, although the conventional application program for the incorporated equipment is started upon start-up of the incorporated equipment, in the incorporated equipment capable of installing the application program, it is necessary to start and stop the installed application program, since such application program is a problem regarding the resource of the incorporated equipment, so that the program is not required to always be operated, and in many cases, the program is needed under a particular condition or only when it is used by the operator.
On the other hand, in an equipment such as the incorporated equipment having limited resource, it is difficult to operate the plurality of Java virtual machines, since, although the Java virtual machine requires a high speed processor and a large capacity memory, many of incorporated equipments do not have such a high speed processor and a large capacity memory.
Further, depending upon an operating system for controlling the incorporated equipment, the same program cannot be executed by plural times or the program once started cannot be stopped or the program cannot be re-started after it is stopped. In such equipment, one Java virtual machine is started whenever one Java program is risen up, and, even when the started Java program becomes useless, the useless Java virtual machine continues to operate until the power supply of the equipment is turned OFF.
To avoid this, it is necessary to provide application managing means for operating the plurality of Java application programs by a single VM (virtual machine). When the plural Java application programs are executed on the single VM, a certain Java application program must effect installation, start, stop and uninstallation of other Java application programs without affecting an influence upon the operation.
Further, when the program can easily be installed into the incorporated equipment, there arises a problem that class names of the Java programs formed by the operator or the third party may be interfered with each other.